Brag Bowling, President         Rob Monroe, Editor     
3019 Kensington Ave             2416 Edenbrook Dr.     
Richmond, VA 23221              Richmond, VA 23228-3040

November 2003 PROGRAM

Robert K. Krick

"The Confederate Pattons"

8:00 p.m., Tuesday, November 11, 2003, at the
Willow Oaks Country Club, 6228 Forest Hill Ave.

Robert K.  Krick grew up in  Northern  California.   He  has
lived  and  worked  on east coast battlefields for more than
thirty-five years.  For thirty years he was Chief  Historian
of  Fredericksburg  &  Spotsylvania  National Military Park.
Krick is the author of fourteen  books  and  more  than  one
hundred  published articles.  His Stonewall Jackson at Cedar
Mountain (University of  North  Carolina  Press,  1990)  won
three   national  awards,  including  the  Douglas  Southall
Freeman Prize for Best Book in  Southern  History.   Krick's
Conquering  the  Valley:  Stonewall Jackson at Port Republic
(William Morrow & Co., 1996) was a  main  selection  of  the
History  Book  Club and a selection of the Book of the Month
Club.  His latest  book,  from  Louisiana  State  University
Press (Feb.  2002), is The Smoothbore Volley That Doomed the
Confederacy:  The  Death  of  Stonewall  Jackson  and  Other
Chapters  on  the  Army  of  Northern  Virginia.   Krick  is
currently under contract to the United States  Marine  Corps
to produce panels and texts and captions for the mammoth new
National Museum of the Marine Corps  that  is  under  design
near  Quantico.   Krick's  topic is the fertile and militant
Patton family of Fredericksburg, Culpeper, and Richmond. The
family  contributed  several  distinguished  officers to the
Army of Northern Virginia,  including  the  grandfather  and
several great uncles of the renowned World War II Patton.   


Review of the October Program



"You learn more by writing on a topic than by simply reading
about it." Larry Hewitt opened his presentation on Robert E.
Lee  and  his  efforts  to  win  the  Civil  War  with  this
admonition.   Having  read  and studied about Lee's strategy
for many years, Hewitt decided to take that extra  step  and
summarized   for  the  audience  his  initial  thoughts  and
findings.  He then asked, "Has  too  much  been  written  on
Gettysburg?"  His answer is "no." Hewitt concluded that much
that has been written about the  battle  is  bad  or  simply
wrong.                                                      

Hewitt's  next  question was "Could the Confederacy have won
the Civil War?" He believes strongly  that  the  Confederacy
might  have succeeded in gaining its independence.  Pointing
to several modern historians who share his  point  of  view,
Hewitt  said  that  Charles  Roland  was  the first of those
historians to say that Lee was a great general and that  the
Confederacy  could  have won.  Hewitt argued that there is a
difference between winning and not losing.  Lee believed the
Confederacy  could  have  secured victory on the battlefield
and fashioned his strategy accordingly.                     

Jefferson Davis and the Confederate cabinet supported  Lee's
invasion  of  Pennsylvania  in  the  summer of 1863.  Hewitt
argued that Davis was very close to  Lee  in  his  views  on
strategy  despite what other historians have written.  Davis
abandoned the cordon defense and began supporting a strategy
of concentration for the rest of the war.                   

Looking  at  Gettysburg,  Hewitt stated that the Confederate
failure on July 1 was due to General William N.  Pendleton's
failure  to  bombard  Cemetery  Hill that afternoon.  Such a
barrage would have signaled to General  Richard  Ewell  that
Lee  wanted  an  attack on that position.  On the morning of
July 2, Lee planned to renew the battle and win  a  decisive
victory.  Hewitt supports the view that Lee was pleased with
General James Longstreet's actions that afternoon.   The  en
echelon  attacks  were  working.  General Richard Anderson's
division was supposed to continue the assaults, but  two  of
his brigades (Mahone's and Posey's) did not advance. General
William D.  Pender saw that something  was  wrong  and  rode
south  to  find out what had happened.  Pender received what
would be a mortal  wound,  and  the  whole  attack  stalled.
Anderson was culpable for the failure that day.             

At  the end of July 2, six Union brigades were facing nearly
three times that many Confederate brigades.  Although a  few
things  went wrong for Lee, the day had gone so well that he
had to attack again on July 3.   The  attack  that  Lee  had
intended  to  make  failed to come off.  Ewell's men were to
attack the Union  right  flank.   Union  commander,  General
George G.  Meade, weakened his center to support his flanks.
As we know, Lee's plan did not work,  and  the  Confederates
lost the battle.                                            

Hewitt  concluded that of the seventeen reasons presented by
Scott Bowden and Bill Ward for the Confederates' losing  the
battle,  only four could in any reasonable way be attributed
to Lee-(1) the breakdown of the attacks on July 2, (2)  A.P.
Hill's  mishandling  of  his Third Corps, (3) the failure of
Second Corps senior officers to coordinate their  movements,
and   (4)   Lee's   inadequate   staff   size   and   faulty
organizational  structure.   According   to   Hewitt,   four
Confederates  deserve  censure  for  the  army's  failure at
Gettysburg prior to the morning of  July  3-William  Mahone,
Carnot Posey, Richard Anderson, and William Pendleton.      


Upcomming Events

November 15-16

Capital of the Confederacy Civil War Show  at  the  Richmond
Raceway  Complex, 600 E.  Laburnum Ave.  Civil War artifacts
for sale, educational exhibits.  9 am - 5 pm Saturday,  9:30
am  - 3 pm Sunday.  $5.  More information at 804-798-6817 or
capconcwshow@yahoo.com

November 22

"Blue and Gray Ball" at Fauquier  Springs  Country  Club  in
Warrenton.    Civil   War   period  clothing  or  black-tie.
Fundraiser for the John Singleton Mosby Museum.  5:30  pm  -
midnight.   $90 includes formal dinner.  More information at
540-351-1600 or www.mosbymuseum.org   

November 27-30

"Thanksgiving" living history at Pamplin Historical Park and
the   National   Museum   of  the  Civil  War  Soldier  near
Petersburg.    Features   artillery   demonstrations,   food
preparations  and  the  construction of winter huts with the
soldiers.   More  information  at 1-877-PAMPLIN or          
www.pamplinpark.org   

December 6

"Visit  with Civil War Santa" at Pamplin Historical Park and
the  National  Museum  of  the  Civil   War   Soldier   near
Petersburg.   Living history and a holiday sale at the Civil
War  Store.  More  information  at 1-877-PAMPLIN or         
www.pamplinpark.org   

December 7

Christmas  Open  House and living history at the Miller-Kite
House, Stonewall Jackson's headquarters, in Elkton.  Noon  -
5  pm.   Donations  are  appreciated.   More  information at
540-298-1717 or 540-298-5390.

December 8

Holiday Music Program at Old Salem Church off Route  3  west
of    Fredericksburg.     7   pm.    More   information   at
540-373-6122 or www.nps.gov/frsp   


Positions Announced for 2004 Round Table 

President - Art Bergeron
First Vice President - Richard Forrester
Second Vice President - Shep Parsons
Secretary - Sandy Parker
Treasurer - Richard Grosse
Web Master - Gary Cowardin
Executive Committee - Jack Ackerly, Bobby Krick, Sam Craghead



New Civil War Books

Some recent additions to Civil War literature:

In the Presence  of  Mine  Enemies:  War  in  the  Heart  of
America, 1859-1863 by Edward Ayres.  An intimate look at two
communities (Augusta County, Va.  and Franklin County,  Pa.)
and how they initially sought to avoid war, but soon entered
the conflict with vigor.                                    

Southern Lady, Yankee Spy: The True Story of  Elizabeth  Van
Lew,  a  Union  Agent  in  the  Heart  of the Confederacy by
Elizabeth R.  Varon.  A comprehensive account of  the  Union
sympathizer contemporary Richmonders dubbed "Crazy Bet".    

Vicksburg is the Key: The Struggle for the Mississippi River
by William L.  Shea and Terrence J.  Winschel.  A  narrative
of   the   Union   campaigns  that  secured  the  river  and
Confederate strategies to break the siege.                  


Newsletter Deadlines

To facilitate the printing and timely  distribution  of  the
monthly  newsletter,  information for it should be submitted
to the editors no later than the following dates:           

December newsletter, November 21

Information may be emailed to rmonroe@richmond.com

RCWRT Monthly Speakers for 2003


Richmond Civil War Round Table Newsletter
Rob Monroe, Editor     
2416 Edenbrook Dr.     
Richmond, VA 23228-3040